JOURNALISTIC CONVENTIONS

Journalistic writing follows certain Conventions and

Rule of Style. Most readers do not realize what these
conventions are when they read the newspaper,
hear news broadcast, or read news on the website.
Yet news consumers expect these conventions to
be followed.



These conventions include both the basic structures
of the stories and the individual ordering of facts and
even words within the sentence that are regularly
used in certain type of stories.
INVERTED PYRAMID



Inverted pyramid is a structure that is most commonly
used for modern American news story for print. For
writer, the inverted pyramid structure means two
things.
1. Information should be
presented in order of its
importance, the most
important facts coming in
the beginning.
2. A story should be written so
that if it needs to be cut, it
can be cut from the bottom
without loss of essential facts.

INVERTED PYRAMID



Many journalists believe that the inverted pyramid
structure has lost its usefulness and that journalists
should develop and use other structures.


The argument is that in the age of instant
communication through television and other
means, the inverted pyramid is no longer necessary.


Other objection to inverted pyramid is that it
restricts the creativity of the writer and the writers
ability to present information.


Many writers argue that stories are more
readable and even more accurate if they take some
other form, particularly using a narrative or
chronological form.


Despite these objections the inverted pyramid has
remained a standard form for news writing.


It has gained strength because of its usefulness in
writing for the web.
Alternatives to the inverted pyramid structures are
likely to grow.
Writers for mass media need to stay flexible in
learning the writing structures that a medium
demands.


TYPE OF STORIES
Commonly accepted news values make it incumbent
on reporters and editors to cover and give
importance to certain stories.
These kind of stories are handled so often that a set of
standard practice governing how they are written has
been established
A disaster story must tell early in the story whether
anyone was killed.
Than comes the routine stories concerning
government actions,
the courts,
crime,
entertainment,
sports and weather
BALANCE AND FAIRNESS


One of the basic principle of Journalism is fairness.
Readers expect journalists to give all people involved
in the news story a chance to tell their sides and offer
their opinion.



If a news source makes an accusation about another
person, standard journalism demands that the
accused person be given a chance to answer in the
same story.
Journalists should not take sides in a controversy and
should take care not to even appear to take sides.

The concept of balance and fairness sometimes
come under the name of objectivity.
Objectivity means that a news reporter, editor and
publication should report only what they know they
can find out.
THE IMPERSONAL REPORTER
Reporters should be invisible in their writings. They
should not only set aside their own views and
opinions but also avoid direct contact with the
reader through the use of:
first person
I , We , Me, Our, My, Us
Or second person
You and Your
Or Third Person
He, she, his, hers, him and her

FIRST PERSON EXAMPLE
I glanced at the clock
or
My eyes darted to the clock
or
The constant ticking drew my glance toward
the clock
SECOND PERSON EXAMPLE
To make lemonade, you add the juice of lemons to
water and sugar.

You need to prepare a wall before applying color.

To calculate the area of a room, multiply the width
by the length.
THIRD PERSON EXAMPLE
Celia ate her lunch quickly, hardly bothering to
chew whole potatoes as she slammed them into
her mouth. Somehow she made it to class in five
minutes. Phew she thought ( Past Tense)

Celia eats her lunch quickly, hardly bothering to
chew whole potatoes as she slams them into her
mouth. Somehow she manages to make it to class
in five minutes. Phew she thinks ( Present Tense)

RELIANCE ON OFFICIAL SOURCE
Much of the information that is presented in the news
comes from official source.
These sources are those who are thought to have
experience or knowledge on the subject, not those
who may have opinion about the subject.
ATTRIBUTION AND QUOTATION
Journalists should make it clear to readers where the
information has been obtained. All but the most
obvious and commonly known facts in the story
should be attributed.
Writers should make sure that the attributions are
helpful to the readers understanding of the story.
The conventions are important to observe if journalists
are to gain the respect of their readers and
colleagues.
Conventions should not be looked on as random
rules that must be followed in the name of accuracy
and clarity. Rather they are a set of sound practice
that are extremely useful to journalists in the process
of what to write and how to write it.
JOURNALISTIC STYLE
AP STYLE
English being a diverse language gives a user many
ways of saying the same thing.
8:00,
Eight o clock
8 A.M.
Eight a.m.
8 in the morning
NUMBERS






One through nine are generally spelled out, while 10
and above are generally written as numerals.
Example: He carried five books for 12 blocks.

Spell out both cardinal and ordinal numbers from one
through nine.
Cardinal tells you how many (showing quantity)
Ordinal tells you order of things(identifying something)
Examples:
first day one women 10 days
21
st
year nine years 50 more
Use commas in numbers with four or more digits,
except years and street addresses

1,500 bananas 23,879 students
7034 Bay St. the year 1984
PUNCTUATION
A colon is used in clock time
8:15 a.m

Hyphen is used is phrasal adjectives
a 7 year old boy
a little- known man




PERCENTAGE






Percentages are always expressed as numerals,
followed by the word percent.
Example: The price of gas rose 5 percent.

AGE







Ages are always expressed as numerals.
Example: He is 5 years old.

DOLLAR AMOUNTS






Dollar amounts are always expressed as numerals,
and the $ sign is used.
Example: $5, $15, $150, $150,000, $15 million, $15
billion, $15.5 billion

STREET ADDRESSES

Numerals are used for numbered addresses. Street,
Avenue and Boulevard are abbreviated when used
with a numbered address, but otherwise are spelled
out. Route and Road are never abbreviated.
Example: He lives at 123 Main St. His house is on Main
Street. Her house in on 234 Elm Road.

DATES
Dates are expressed as numerals. The months August
through February are abbreviated when used with
numbered dates. March through July are never
abbreviated. Months without dates are not
abbreviated. Th is not used.
Example: The meeting is on Oct. 15. She was born on
July 12. I love the weather in November.

JOB TITLES
Job titles are generally capitalized when they appear
before a persons name, but lowercase after the
name.
Example: President George Bush. George Bush is the
president.

FILM, BOOKS & SONG TITLES
Film, Book & Song Titles
Generally these are capitalized and placed in
quotation marks. Do not use quote marks with
reference books or the names of newspapers or
magazines.
Example: He rented Star Wars on DVD. She read
War and Peace.

CAPITALIZATION
Capitalize names of holidays, historical events,
church feast days, and special events but not
seasons:
Mothers Day
Labor Day
Orientation Week
____________________________________________________
fall winter
autumn leaves
winter tomatoes



Capitalize and place quotation marks around the
names of books, plays, poems, songs, lectures or
speech titles, hymns, movies, TV programs and the
like, when the full name is used.
The Simpsons Star Wars
Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds